Slightly Different Highlights Clip
 

It was a farm wedding, they wanted that feeling to come through in the highlights. There was also an error in the directions, so several family members could not make it to the ceremony in time. For that reason, I wanted to try something slightly different and have more of the exchange of rings than I would normally put in.

We just started offer highlight clips this year, so this is the second full day highlights clip I've done. I try to stay away from the really slow and draw out highlight clips, so I would appreciate feedback in that regard as well.

It is a streaming quicktime file.

http://www.still-motion.ca/diverhighlights.html

Patrick

You really captured the "farm feel" early in the clip. I wish I had seen this one week ago... I just shot my very first wedding last Saturday, also a farm wedding. It was very short notice (just a few days) so I think I missed out on a lot.

What did you use for lighting? The dance scenes looked very well lit.

The couple was very clear that we had to have cows at some point in the video. They really enjoyed the farm theme.

For the dance scenes I used a 250W light with a soft box about 10 feet from the dance floor and podium. It worked great for the dances, speeches and bouquet/garter toss. I was very happy with the way the white balance came out with that light.

Great Job!
 

I really enjoyed watching this clip!

Good use of fades to black - It really added something to the video...made me think about what was going to happen next!
Excellent camera work - Where did you learn how to shoot like that?

Keep up the good work and please keep sharing your clips!

Thanks,
James

Thanks for kind words James.

For the shooting style, I also do some photography work which I think really helps to see those different angles, and I use a homemade glidecam/flowpod like device which helps get the motion. Comparatively speaking, I'm still rather new to this field and still learning more of what my style is.

Just wondering what editing software you are using with this? And also what cam's you use?

I LOVE the fade through the flowers...and also the "tinted" shot of the tables and flowers...Loved the flow up until the vows...a bit quick but I think you pulled it off and the b&g will be loving it!

Thanks for sharing! You have inspired me to try some different fades/colors and shots...like the couple from the dance floor...very cool.

[QUOTE=Patrick Moreau]I use a homemade glidecam/flowpod like device which helps get the motion.QUOTE]

That's interesting, Patrick. I thought you used a little crane on one of the shots of the tables. Got a couple of questions: Did you find plans for the device or design it yourself? And if you've got a picture, would you mind posting it or e-mailing it to me? You did some very nice work with it.

About the rest of the video, I really like the image quality you achieve--it's pleasant and beautiful!

Thanks so much for sharing!

I'm glad you enjoyed the piece so much. I am leaning towards your thoughts for the vows, but it was also something that I felt very strongly about trying to get into the piece as so many had missed the ceremony. From there, the music just had that natural break that seemed to fit perfect. It would have been nice if it was slightly longer so I could have shortened that clip, but thats the way it goes sometimes.

As for editing, I use Final Cut Studio. This piece was shot with a VX2k1, PD170 and a PD150, although most of the footage came from the VX.

Thanks for sharing.

I'm really happy to hear that you thought tsome of the moving shots were smooth enought o have been done with a crane. Almost everything came from the homemade device as it is perfect for the stable dance footage, and then being able to convert in handheld in seconds and get very smooth moving footage.

I personally did not build the unit myself. The manufacturer had a very simple design and didn't shoot video himself, so I used the unit and provided some feedback to be able to make it a device you can use all day. Thats where we got the bogen monopod into the design. I should be able to get a picture up for you shortly and I do believe I can still order the units for much less than the price of a glidecam.

Yeah...as I watched it again, I did notice the flow with the music...and your right, sometimes you just have to make it fit!

I am shooting with gl2's right now but am thinking of making the switch to pd170's or vx2100's...just questioning the audio capabilities of 21k. I know I can find that stuff on other boards...

Excellent work, and very topical (for me) as I am doing a farm wedding this weekend). I particularly liked the ending, very stylish. You've inspired me, hadn't thought of filming cows in a wedding video before :-)

Exemplorary work- really! Great job. I liked the upbeat pace- I tend to hang in a slow motion/dramatic rut. I really like upbeat energetic edits like this- very refreshing.

The colors were clear and saturated, the edits timed well to the music, and very good variety of shots. Kept my interest.

I felt the shots of the chairs back to back was redundant but other than that it's gold. Great job and thanks for posting. Gotta keep my eye on you for future work.

Regards

Thanks for the comments.

Glen, that was your fisheye lens used to do those chair shots so go easy. About the chair shots, that is a problem I noticed in the rough edit. I ran into the situation for those where I had a gap in the edit as I followed the music and I did not have enough other footage to fill it in. I had another clip of the bride before she left the house but it didn't seem to flow and wasn't the best clip so I had to run three shots in a row or lose the ties to the music that I really thought worked well.

When I finished the clip there were two weak spots I had noticed. I really appreciate that so far, only those two spots that I also noticed have been mentioned as slightly weak.

Thanks for taking the time to view the clip.

The multiple chair shots really bugged me. I think you should work harder at finding something else that fits.

Also I thought the repetive "flash transitions" during the vows was annoying. I would have preferred a cutaway to mom or something if you can't make the cuts tight enough. Even plain dissolves would be better than too much flashing.

But some of your shots were also beautiful. I liked the crying, did not like the last 20-30 seconds of the video at all. It felt like it just lost steam. Her speech needs to be tweaked somehow, maybe move it earlier, or maybe fade the volume down so it does not end so harshly and abruptly.

I actually did not mind the chair shots (I like what you did with the color) as much as the flashing during the vows...I guess this is what I meant to say in my first post...

No matter what, every clip I have seen from anyone on here has inspired me in some way and challenged me to make my videos better...in yours, I love your vivid colors (I have to get me a vx21k!), transitions (like burning through the flowers) and cool dance floor shots (from the ground at an angle).
Thank You.